I Owe You
by Seta-Kino
Summary: One-shot at the moment. Sheldon reflects on something he's recently done after hearing a conversation that the guys had earlier  of course, they heard something that sparked their own conversation .


"Oh my God, yes! Right there, Sheldon!" was all three other people could hear across the hall in apartment 4A. Three sets of jaws all dropped open in complete shock.

"Dude, no wonder Penny broke up with you. You would've thought Penny would have told Bernadette who would've told me." Howard mused allowed as he looked at Leonard. It was weird that they could hear what was going on, yet he suspected that Penny was just loud in bed. Oh, he would've enjoyed that (before Bernadette, of course).

"She said I was too smart for her. Ha." Leonard grumbled. He was happy that Penny had found somebody, but was more than confused on why she would choose Sheldon.

"I don't care what you guys say, "Raj began as he nibbled on a slice of pizza, "I've been waiting for those two to get together for years now." He moaned out of pure bluee of his slice of pizza.

"Say what, now?"

Raj gulped down another slice before raising his eyes to land on Howard, "I knew Leonard wouldn't notice it since he practically lives with the two of them, but I really thought you would." Silently he laughed at the expressions on their faces before continuing, "They tend to have silent conversations. Penny is the only one who Sheldon will listen to or trust outside of his faily. She's the only one who actually gets under his skin and he enjoys it."

Leonard pondered a moment before speaking up, "I thought he was now dating Amy?"

"I don't know, Leonard. I think Raj may be on to something. Didn't you say that he hugged Penny that one Christmas?"

"Yeah, so? He asked Amy to be his girlfriend. He told me that he tried asking Penny first but she turned him down." Leonard knew he was fighting a losing battle, but he'd at least try not to jump to conclusions. Not this time.

Howard and raj shared a knowing look before Raj began to speak, "I don't know. I still think he and Penny are secret lovers."

"As you all are well aware, I am unable to keep and maintain a secret. Second, enny and I are not lovers although how you came to that conclusion is beyond comprehension." Quiet as a mouse he had entered his apartment and had heard a dreal deal of the end of their conversation.

"Then what re you?"

Blue eyes filled with disappointment before he answered, "Friends." Not giving the men a chance to comment, he hade his way to his bedroom. He heard them prattyle on about his relationship with Penny as he changed into his Thursday night PJs. Slowly, their noise got quieter and quieter as Howard and Raj left and Leonard went to bed.

Sheldon, for the first time in a long time, was unable to sleep. His REM cycles be damned this night as he reflected on the earlier converstion. While everything Raj said was true (except for he and Penny being a couple), he just had never really thought about it (never deemed it thought-worthy). Yes, he had asked both Amy and Penny out and he had asked Penny firsts. Maybe that meant something? He didn't know.

An audible sigh escaped his lips as he tried thinking of Amy the same way he thought of Penny. Amy wouldn't sing him Soft Kitty when he was asick, although he had asked. Amy didn't understand comis (well, neither did PEnny but at least she tried). Penny would never understand his work but always managed to challenge him in other ways.

Another sighed had him climbing out of his bed and walking over to his calendar. Quickly, he picked up a pen and wrote the word 'mistake' on the day he asked both women out. It was a rare occasion that he was wrong and he wanted to mark it. He thought back to earlier and realized what sparked the conversation he had walked in on.

Penny had asked him to come over and help her with a raid on Age of Conan earlier in the day. He had accepted since he had nothing else to tend to for the rest of the day (it was Anything-Can-Happen Thursday and he assumed the others would simply go out). Throughout their game-play, Penny had been complaining about pain in her lower back. Being ever the gentleman he was, he offered a back massage.

After some fumbling around, the two were in Penny's bedroom with Penny lying on her staomch and Sheldon straddling her backside.

"Penny, either remove your shirt or move it up."

A groan of protest emerged from under him before the shirt flew through the air. Sheldon's eyes were glued to the shirt until it landed. He made a mental note to scold her later. A few minutes went by and Penny's bra was constantly in the way and since glaring at it wasn't making it disappear, he did the only thing he could think to do.

Using one hand, Sheldon snaped her bra off in one fluid motion.

"Amy's a lucky woman." Penny muttered as Sheldon's fingers worked her skin. As he worked on a particularly troublesome area, Penny shouted, "Oh my God, yes! Right there, Sheldon!"

Shaking himself out of his memories, he allowed himself to chuckle. He'd let those bumbling idiots think what they wanted for now, but hed' have a nice conversation with Penny later. After all, she owed him one.


End file.
